A seismic middle Saturday in the NatWest 6 Nations saw Ireland strengthen their challenge for the title, as Jacob Stockdale’s 81st-minute intercept try sealed a compelling 37-27 bonus point win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland recovered from an eight-point first half deficit to lead 15-13, Bundee Aki’s try on the stroke of half-time adding to an earlier Jacob Stockdale five-pointer and a lone penalty from Jonathan Sexton, who had uncharacteristically missed three other place-kicks during the opening quarter of an hour.
Joe Schmidt’s men held onto the momentum in the third quarter as they made it 22 points without reply thanks to further tries from the dynamic Dan Leavy (44 minutes) and Cian Healy, who bagged a 53rd-minute bonus point. Centre Chris Farrell imposed himself in both defence and attack to earn the man-of-the-match award on his Six Nations debut, while inexperienced tighthead Andrew Porter, on his first Championship start, played beyond his years.
After Aaron Shingler’s 62nd-minute try heightened the tension with the scoreboard showing 27-20, it was Ireland’s front row reserves who won a 75th minute penalty which Conor Murray, kicking instead of the soon-to-be-replaced Sexton, nudged over with the aid of the left hand post.
Warren Gatland’s side showed their resilience in the dying minutes of this eight-try shootout, unlocking the Irish defence out wide again as Steff Evans’ converted effort put just three points between the sides. However, the home supporters erupted in relief and celebration when Stockdale intercepted Gareth Anscombe’s long pass to run in the decisive try right at the death – an amazing eighth score in seven international outings for the Ulster winger.
Ireland pulled through in dramatic circumstances to claim their second bonus point success of the tournament, with their tenth Test victory in a row – stretching back to last March – equalling their best ever run of results from 2002 and 2003. They are also unbeaten in 13 Six Nations matches in Dublin ahead of their March 10 date with Scotland, who shocked England with a thrilling 25-13 Calcutta Cup triumph in Edinburgh.
While there was much to be satisfied with, including the performances of some of his young players as Ireland pushed five points clear of second-placed England (9 points), head coach Schmidt agreed that there is plenty of room for improvement ahead of the clash with the third-placed Scots.
“It was almost a repeat of our last game against Italy. Once the changes started to happen I think we lost a bit of our defensive shape. There are things we need to work on,” he admitted. “It is frustrating that at 27-13 we didn’t keep that margin or grow it.
“We know we can do better. I think one of the things is that when we made personnel changes, guys made different decisions, we got a bit disconnected and it allowed Wales a fair bit of latitude to score tries and they scored some good ones. With Scotland coming, it’s the Hoggs, Seymours and Sean Maitland – very quick athletes.
“I think we helped them (Wales) a little bit and that’s a concern. But lots of positives. We scored eight tries the last day (against Italy) and five tries today (against Wales). We expected a really tight tussle and it was. I’m sure that we will do better (in defence). I think Andy Farrell does an unbelievable good job.
“We’ll go back and have a look at it but at the same time there’s some things we’re very very happy with and the one of those is the support we got from the home crowd,” he said. In two weeks’ time we play Scotland here, if we get that vociferous support and rapport with the home crowd, I think it certainly helps steel the defence and keep the resolve.”
On the players that picked up knocks, Schmidt added: “Johnny just got a dead glute. He copped a knee in the backside really. He could have stayed on and played on but we’ve got a lot of confidence in Joey Carbery and we just felt that we want to keep growing the group and it was a good opportunity for Joey.
“Conor (Murray) got his foot trapped, you would have seen it, and twisted awkwardly. He’s walking without any problem at all, he finished the game, he ran fully, changed angles fully. Keith (Earls) is good, he was getting cramp in his calf. He is fine, there was no event, but in the context of keeping him fully fit we decided we would take him off.”
Ireland were quick to get Championship newcomer Farrell involved, positioning him out on the left wing and allowing him to chase down Stockdale’s clearance kick and catch Leigh Halfpenny with a thumping tackle. However, Wales were first off the mark, Aki caught offside after Earls had knocked on a cross-field kick from Dan Biggar, and Leigh Halfpenny mopped up with the three points from a fine second-minute strike from distance.
Seeking their first Six Nations win over Wales since 2014, Ireland immediately reclaimed possession from a short restart which Farrell rose to gather. Rob Evans were then guilty of no clear release, but Sexton’s fourth-minute penalty attempt bounced back off the right hand post and Wales remained 3-0 in front.
Crucially, Scott Williams’ forward pass allowed Ireland to keep the pressure on from a scrum in the 22, a flat delivery seeing Farrell get over the gain-line and the forwards carry up close to the line before a brilliantly whipped pass from Sexton took two defenders out of the game and sent Stockdale over in the left corner for the opening try.
The try’s creator drifted the conversion to the right and wide, and Ireland missed out on a second spell of pressure when Aki knocked on with referee Glen Jackson almost getting in the way of Murray’s pass. It was the scrum half which forced a ruck penalty near the quarter hour mark, but Sexton suffered his third miss off the tee with a kick that slid narrowly wide.
Wales gobbled up territory with a long kick from Scott Williams, following Gareth Davies’ rip in the tackle, yet Ireland were able to attack ambitiously from deep with Sexton charging out of the 22 and then it was his inside pass which released CJ Stander over halfway. Farrell and Healy were heavily involved before another rip – this time by Biggar – allowed the Welsh to win back that lost territory.
Indeed, the visitors stung Ireland with a seven-pointer soon after, the lineout providing the platform from which Scott Williams and Shingler gained ground in the 22, and although the ball went loose from an Aki knock-on, ever-alert scrum half Davies picked it, threw a dummy and scampered in behind the posts. The 20th minute try was converted by Halfpenny, who was off-target with a 53-metre penalty after Aki was whistled up for crossing.
Leavy’s excellent work in earning a penalty at the breakdown was spoiled by an Alun Wyn Jones lineout steal. Rob Kearney was then guilty of kicking the ball on the ground after Biggar had beaten him to a high ball, and Halfpenny stepped forward to give Wales a 13-5 lead off limited possession and territory.
Nonetheless, the final eight minutes of the first half belonged to Ireland as they got the scoreboard moving in the right direction. A Sexton wraparound propelled Earls through a gap and up past the Welsh 10-metre line, igniting the home attack with the work-hungry James Ryan, Aki and Leavy all carrying forcefully.
After Farrell almost crossed from Murray’s bullet of a pass, Sexton knocked over an 11-metre penalty for a Welsh offside. The momentum was with Ireland again via Stockdale’s aerial win over Liam Williams and Murray’s luring of a penalty from Shingler. The hosts’ maul gained ground via another Devin Toner lineout take, and Sexton showed his quality again, popping an inside pass to Healy before making the hard yards in a carry a few phases later, bringing his side into try-scoring range.
As the clock ticked past the 40-minute mark, Wales infringed in defence but the penalty was not needed as Aki hurtled onto Murray’s pass, ducked under Scott Williams’ attempted challenge and stretched out of a tackle from Ken Owens to grab his second try in successive Six Nations games. The centre’s muscular finish was followed by Sexton’s conversion which edged Ireland ahead at the turnaround – 15-13.
Schmidt’s charges had the better of play on the resumption, full-back Kearney miscuing a monster drop goal attempt before Sexton’s deliciously delayed pass allowed Kearney to put Earls into space on the right. Earls’ sidestep caught Halfpenny out and Murray did really well to juggle the winger’s pass, keeping the move going.
Going the direct route which brought them joy before the interval, captain Rory Best and Ryan drove closer to the posts, and then Leavy, with support from Best, shrugged off Ross Moriarty’s initial tackle to scramble in under the posts in the 44th minute. Sexton added the extras to stretch the margin to nine points.
Prop Porter continued to lock out the scrum and after Earls and Kearney forced Scott Williams to concede a lineout in the Welsh 22, Ireland needed no second invitation to hunt down the bonus point score.
It arrived just a few minutes later, Moriarty being caught behind his own try-line by Sexton and Leavy before the resulting five-metre scrum saw Sexton bash Steff Evans aside and Stander draw Ireland even closer to the whitewash. It was Healy who crashed over from the ruck, aided by Peter O’Mahony, for his first international try in four years.
The difficult conversion from wide on the right was missed by Sexton, but Ireland were now 14 points to the good and still pressing for tries. A frantic counter attack after O’Mahony and Sexton secured a turnover had Earls sprinting after his own kick before Wales were able to cover the danger.
Farrell continued to set the standard in the Irish defence, recovering well to bring down the advancing Halfpenny and then standing tall to pressurise Shingler inside the Welsh half. However, Ireland were caught narrow when Scott Williams floated a long pass out to Steff Evans, and working the ball out to the opposite wing, passes from Hadleigh Parkes and Josh Navidi put flanker Shingler over for a well-worked try in the right corner.
Halfpenny’s crisply-struck conversion cut Ireland’s lead back to 27-20, and the pace suddenly quickened again as both sides built for a grandstand finish. An encouraging spell of carrying, with Ryan and replacements Jack McGrath and Jack Conan getting on the ball, earned a kickable penalty but Sexton’s decision to run it proved the wrong one as Wales survived unscathed.
The visitors tried to get replacement winger George North involved as much as possible, Kearney hauling him down outside the Irish 22 before scrum half Davies knocked on. In a couple of big moments for Ireland, Farrell made a key tackle on his opposite number Williams in the lead up to a hard-earned scrum penalty which Murray slotted over off the post, giving his side some breathing space with a 10-point buffer.
Wales hung in there, outflanking Ireland again on the near side as Scott Williams drew in two defenders and got his offload away for Navidi to put winger Evans racing in from the left for a try. Halfpenny’s conversion suddenly made it a three-point game with just over two minutes remaining.
Wales got away with a crooked lineout throw as they tried to break back into the Irish half in search of a levelling or match-winning score. Responding to the home crowd, Ireland fanned out in defence and made their tackles before Anscombe went for broke with his pass and Stockdale swooped in to intercept it and bound clear to settle a tense finale in the hosts’ favour.
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